Afghans secure fourth win in WC, beating Netherlands

|| CF DESK ||

Afghanistan beat the Netherlands by seven wickets in the World Cup match at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.

Afghanistan restricted error-plagued Netherlands to 179 all out on Friday as they chased a victory which would keep them in the hunt for a World Cup semi-final place.

The Netherlands won the toss and opted to bat but were undone by seeing four of their batsmen run-out.

The Dutch recovered from seeing 39-year-old opener Wesley Barresi dismissed by spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the first over.

Max O'Dowd and Colin Ackermann put on 70 for the second wicket when a series of run-outs put them on the back foot.

O'Dowd was on 42 when he was beaten by a direct hit by Azmatullah Omarzai from fine leg.

With the score on 92-2, Ackermann (29) failed to make his ground when Ikram Alikhil whipped off the bails from a smart throw by Rashid Khan.

On the next delivery, skipper Scott Edwards swept, lost sight of the ball and as he wandered aimlessly out of his crease Alikhil ran him out without scoring.

Mohammad Nabi and teenage wrist spinner Noor Ahmad then sent back Bas de Leede and Saqib Zulfiqar with Logan van Beek dismissed thanks to a smart stumping by wicketkeeper Alikhil.

Sybrand Engelbrecht had made 58 with six fours when he became the fourth run-out of the innings, failing to beat Nabi's throw from midwicket.

That left the Dutch on 152-8 before they went on to be bowled out after 46.3 overs.

Nabi was the pick of the bowlers with the veteran off-spinner taking 3-28.

"When the pressure is on the batsman you know they will make mistakes and bad calls. So that helped us get the four run-outs," said Nabi.

"I am feeling good with my bowling, my experience helps us and I like to use all of that to help the youngsters in all situations."

Afghanistan have three wins so far, over defending champions England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Victory against the Dutch would take them to eight points, the same as Australia and New Zealand, who currently occupy two of the semi-final qualifying places.

India have already made sure of a last-four spot with South Africa almost certain to join them.

The Dutch need to win on Friday to have any chance of keeping their campaign alive after two victories in six games.